Some homes include decks that can be used for outdoor activities such as hosting parties, outdoor cooking, and the like. Decks may be built from wood or synthetic lumber. If lumber is used, the lumber may be spaced apart to allow liquids and debris to pass through to exposed ground under the deck. As such, space under the deck may be unusable due to falling liquid and/or debris and/or because sunlight may be blocked by the deck. Thus, some people use space under a deck for storage or do not use the space at all.
One solution to this problem is to equip decks with a deck drainage system. A deck drainage system may capture liquids and/or debris falling through the deck and may route the liquids and/or debris to a gutter or other outlet. One type of drainage system may include drainage panels that can be joined together to provide a substantially solid ceiling for space under the deck. One downside to some of these drainage systems is that these systems rely on heavy self-supporting interconnected panels and/or alternatively may require use of brackets to support the drainage panels.
Some decks are made with pressure treated lumber. Until recently, pressure treated lumber typically used for outdoor decks was treated with chromated copper arsenate (“CCA”). CCA is an arsenic-containing additive now regulated by the U.S. Federal Government as a toxic pesticide. One fairly recent replacement for CCA is alkaline copper quaternary (“ACQ”), which has become a popular substitute for CCA that is used in many outdoor decks.
Some brackets used for deck drainage systems, however, can be formed from various metals such as steel, aluminum, or other materials. Steel is heavy and may tend to rust and/or otherwise corrode over time. Aluminum can be more resistant to liquid and other elements relative to steel and can be lighter than steel when used in similar volumetric proportions. Aluminum, however, may corrode when exposed to liquid and ACQ-treated lumber.
Because of these and other challenges, retrofitting decks with drainage systems can pose various challenges. These challenges may be compounded if the deck is formed from ACQ-treated lumber. Furthermore, drainage system components can be expensive and adding a drainage system therefore may be cost-prohibitive for some homeowners. As such, some homeowners may forego adding a drainage system to a deck, thereby sacrificing space under a deck for safety and/or cost concerns.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.